Pressure reducing valve



s. LAFLEUW 2,5%18

PRESSURE: REDUCING VALVE Filed June l2, 1944 Patented Jan. 16, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim. (Cl. 50--35) My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in a pressure reducing valve for nterposing in a uid line through which uid is delivered under pressure. The valve has an inlet and an outlet end and is adapted for reducing the pressure of the incoming uid to a predetermined degree so that the fluid passes through the outlet end at a reduced pressure.

It is an object of this invention to provide a pressure reducing valve of this kind which will be simple in structure, economical of manufacture, durable, compact, possessed of a minimum movement of parts, light and highly efficient in use.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a pressure reducing valve of this type in which the reducing is accomplished by the action of a single slidable piston.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

It is recognized that various modifications and changes may be made in the detail of structure illustrated without departing from the invention itself and it is intended that such variations and changes shall be encompassed by the claim which forms a part hereof.

Forming a part of this application are drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal, central, vertical, sectional view of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 o1 Fig. 1.

As shown in the drawings, I provide a housing 1 having a recess 8 formed in one end which is closed by a threaded plug 9 having an inlet pipe I0 projected therethrough. This inlet pipe Ill is adapted to engage in the passageway or bore Il formed in the housing 1. It will be noted that the pipe I is of an outside diameter less than the inside diameter of the bore II so that there is a clearance around the pipe I ll. The pocket or recess 8 is adapted to communicate through the passages I2, I3, and I4 with a pocket or chamber I5 formed in the opposite end of the housing 1. This chamber I5 is closed by the threaded plug I6 in which is threaded the outlet pipe Ila in alignment with the outlet pipe I 1. The inner end of the outlet pipe IIa is provided with the notches I8. Slidably mounted in the inner side of the chamber I5 is a piston I9 carrying the gasket 2|! which is mounted thereon by the screw 2 I. Projecting from the inner face of the piston I9 is a stem 22 which slidably engages in the bore I I and which carries at its inner end a gasket 23 which overlies the end face of the stem 22 and is secured thereto by the screw 24. Overlying the gasket are sealing disks 25.

. Embracing the inner end of the pipe I'Ia and bearing at one end against the plug I5 is a coil spring 26, the opposite end of which bears against the piston I9 and serves normally to move it into the position shown in Fig. 1.

A pressure gauge 21 is mounted on the housing 'I so as to communicate with the passage I3.

In operation, the uid, whether air or liquid, would be delivered through the inlet pipe I 0. The pressure of this iluid would force the member 22 to move to the right of Fig. 1 so as to unseal the end of the pipe I0 and permit the fluid to escape through the bore II into the chamber or recess 8 from which it would pass through the passages I2, I3 and Il into the chamber I5. The pressure necessary to move the piston I9 and the stem 22 to the right from the position shown in Fig. 1 can be varied by adjusting the tension on the spring 26. This is accomplished by threading the plug I6 inwardly or outwardly. When the uid reaches the chamber I5, it will, of course, exert a pressure on the face of the piston I9 and gasket 2|) and since this area is larger than the crosssectional area of the stem 22, the piston I9 would be moved to the left of Fig. 1 so as to close the end of the pipe I0. In this action, the movement of the piston I9 would be effected by the fluid pressure and the pressure of the spring 26. It is obvious that the relation between the cross-sectional area of the piston I9 and the stem 22 would determine largely the action of the mechanism.

Frequently, it is desirable that the outlet from the iluid line be of considerably lower pressure than ordinarily maintained on the fluid line. For instance, assuming that the fluid pressure entering through the pipe Il) is at one hundred pounds per square inch, it may be desirable to have the uid passing from the outlet line at a pressure of ten pounds per square inch. With the proper rear cross-sectional areas between the members I9 and 22 and the proper tension on the spring 26, this can be accomplished with the present device. The chamber I5 will be of sufficient size so that the fluid under pressure of one hundred pounds per square inch entering therein will immediately be reduced to ten pounds per square inch and this will eiect a movement of the piston I9 to the left so as to close the end of the pipe I0 and prevent a greater pressure being built up in the chamber I5. As air begins to emit to the pipe Il, the pressure in the chamber I5 would begin to lower below the pressure of ten pounds per square inch which would again permit the incoming air under the higher pressure to move the piston to the right so as to open the end of the pipe I0 and permit more uid under the higher pressure to pass over into the chamber I5. Consequently, with a device of this type, the fluid pressure may be reduced and the pressure emitted from the regulating or reducing valve be maintained substantially at a constant predetermined pressure. With pressure reducing valves commonly in use, it is necessary that the valves be adjusted to a much higher pressure than actually desired because when the consumption or use of the fluid at reduced pressure begins, a considerable lowering of the pressure is eiected. This necessitates an initial use of the fluid at a higher pressure than that which is desired. With the present mechanism, however, the fluid remainsv at the desired reduced pressure even at the initial use of it.

What I claim as new is:

A pressure reducing valve of the class described, comprising: a housing having a high pressure chamber at one end and a low pressure chamber at the opposite end, there being a bore extending between said chambers and communicating therewith; an inlet pipe traversing said high pressure chamber and projecting into said bore and communicating with said high pressure chamber; means for closing the end of said high pressure chamber; a piston slidably mounted in said low REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the vfile of this patent:

UNITED sTATEs PATENTS Number Name Date 319,896 Fox v June 9, 1885 429,591 Abbe- June 10, 1'890 623,773 Evans Apr. 25, 1899 1,173,518 Hoxsie Feb. 29, 1916 1,837,001 White- Dec. 15, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,605 Great Britain July 25, 1874 806,053 France Sept. 14, 1936 

